Burning your Alibi.

Chapter two: Fire on the Mountain

I was out of breath by the time I finished sounding the horn.

My face is covered in some sort of breathless pink blush as I see everyone begin to crowd around me. I sit, the afternoon sun behind me, sitting like an old friend in the classroom, tapping on my shoulder for the answers.

But we are no longer in school.

The younger boys gained more scars as the day passed, not that it's surprising. Their arms and legs shivered in scratches like a stick grinding on another, lighting a fire that may not come.

My hands lower, bringing the pale conch to my knees as I see the cloakless choir approach me. The other boys clothed for protection from the sun, their smaller bodies finding comfort in the grass, rowing up in front of me.

The choir took their seats to my right.

I shift on my spot on the fallen log, breathing out as I watch over everyone, pure surprising silence over us as a soft breeze chills me.

"Well," I begin, clearing my throat awkwardly, breathing in for a moment before I talk again.

"The island is completely uninhabited, there's animals and running water, but no houses, or anything other than that." I bite my lower lip before wiping my nose in habit.

Jack speaks up before I can say any more, "We can hunt the animals you were talking about. The one we saw,"

His gravelly voice yearns out, hearing as it directs towards me, I watch him carefully.

"Right, there's pigs on the island, we can kill them for food if necessary."

I agree, seeing him shift on the fallen trunk under him, his eyes pinned down on me.

"I saw one, you know, the pig–" Jack starts up yet again, making me look into his eyes as he speaks.

"Before it broke away." Simon mutters in, his long black hair folding over his eyes as he holds his hand to his knee.

"I'll get it next time, I'll kill it." Merridew snarls, his face turning more aggressive and defensive as he looks over at him. His pocket knife slips around in his pale angry fingers as he slams it down next to himself. The knife sinking into the wood carefully.

Simon shrinks in on himself just a bit, his shoulders rising close to his ears as his fingers rub his dirty knee.

The group huddled to silence, the tension slimming around in the air before I broke it.

"What–what im trying to say-" I begin, pulling my hands with my words as I look over to the group. "We need hunters to get us food, and another thing, there's no adults,"

"We have to take care of ourselves."

"Finally-" I say, suddenly gaining another thought. "We need some sort of rule, we can't have everyone talking at once. Like raising your hand at school,"

"Ill then give him the conch after,"

"The conch?" A young boy asked, a few of the others stirring.

"The shell, that's what it's called." I motion to the shell, pointed on my knees, my fingers held over it.

"And when they have the conch, they won't be interrupted, unless by me." I specify, before Jack suddenly jumps up, his hand yanking the knife right out of the socket of the tree.

"And we will have a book of rules on rules!" He snarls, his smile turning slightly animalistic as his teeth bear.

"And when someone breaks them.." His eyes flash with a wicked glint, the knife shaking in his adrenaline filled fingers, rising a bit with a jolt.